Freq - Interview

by Marie Hazelwood

published: 13 / 3 / 2012

Marie Hazelwood talks to young Liverpool-based rock and roll four piece FREQ about their forthcoming self-titled debut EP

Article

FREQ are a rock and roll four piece from Liverpool. They were formed initally by Jack Robson (bass, vocals) and Jack Williams (guitar,) with Zachary Southern (drums) and Gavan Jackson (guitar and backing vocals) joining latterly. Inspired by bands like the Stone Roses and Joy Division, FREQ, who area ll in their late teens and early twenties, have been together for nearly five years. They have just recorded an EP also called ‘FREQ’ which will be out in late April. They are currently playing gigs locally and also will be appearing at this year’s Liverpool Sound City. Pennyblackmusic met up with all ”the boys” to ask them some quick questions about their group. PB: Jack and Jack decided to form a band twenty minutes after meeting each other at a party. What was the immediate appeal to you of each other that made you want to form a band together? JW: We both played instruments. JR: Yeah. It wasn’t like a big magical wow and “the world’s going to change.” It was more like. “Look, there is a kid at this party. We can play together”. PB: Last year you took place in the Sound City Battle of the Bands, and won one of the heats. How valuable an experience was that in the development of the band taking part in this competition and fighting it out with other groups? ZS: That was a good development for the band. Also that was the first competition we had even been in officially. We were bit upset we didn’t win, but at the end of the day it was a good learning experience as well as a decent gig. JR: Come on, that first gig in Heebie Jeebies was nearly empty. The final gig of the battle, once we had got through the qualification rounds, was awesome though. When we played the Sound City stage as did everyone who got through to the final, we went on about 3 p.m. and there was hardly anyone there. It still felt like Wembley to us though. PB: On the subject of Sound City, who was the best band you ever saw there? JR: Us. ZS: You will ask every single band and the answer will be the same (Laughs). JR: Yeah, apart from that I saw Clinic – and they were pretty awesome. Also Modern Superstition were cool, and Wicked Whispers. JW: I saw Miles Kane and he was crap. GJ: I thought the same. I like the girl from Modern Superstition. She was boss to watch. PB: You have got a very strong sound and sound much more mature than the average group which is still in its teens. How do you feel you have achieved such a mature sound at such an early age? Are you a group that rehearses a lot or do you think that is down to having an especially wide set of influences or other factors? JW: It is because we have played together for years. JR: Although we have been together for five years, this is still our first band. We know each other well and how each other plays. Also I think it is all about influences, how you sound really. We all listen to 60’s music, like the Doors, Arthur Lee and Love, the Beach Boys. ZS: And the Beatles obviously. Also I think a lot of the sound comes from our manager, Mark Robson, because he is always pushing us to be mature. JR: The Beatles, probably the best band ever. It is also all about attitude and instruments as well. PB: You are about to release your first EP? What is it called? How many tracks will be on it? Could you say a little bit about each one? JW: It is going to be called just the ‘FREQ EP’. There is no special title. The tracks will be ‘Escape’. JR: ‘Take Me There’. ZS: ‘Motel’. GJ: ‘Think About It’. PB: You are thinking about touring in the summer. Will these just be dates in the North West of England or more nationally? ZS: As big as possible really. We still don’t know yet how it going to look like. JR: If we want gigs, we can get them around Liverpool, but we want to practice more and get better and bigger shows. JW: We have some plans, but we don’t want to release them yet, as everything is still in the air. But it will be more than Liverpool anyway. PB: What else are you hoping to do in the near future? Will you be releasing an album? JR: Yes, that will happen at some point. We are still an unsigned band, so we are not going to release an album before we get signed. That why we have put the EP out now. PB: As a new band, what is your point of view of the industry? Does a new band have a chance to breakthrough like Oasis or it is all about one step, two step fame? JR: There haven’t any big bands since Oasis really. Maybe Kasabian and Coldplay have also had the big breakthrough. JW: I think something is going to be soon and something is going to kick off. There are too many average people and bands around, all those indie kids who are around only for a few months. PB: What made you decide to get into music? Were there any big moments or albums which changed your life and inspired you to pick up an instrument? JW: I used to like Led Zeppelin, and they made me want to play the guitar. GJ: I would say it was Nirvana and their music. ZS: I don’t really reckon there was one album with me. It was more like lots of different influences. One day I looked at the drumsticks and I picked them up, and as soon as I touched them I felt like I wanted to play the drums. JR: I learned how to play bass and I liked it so I carried on with it. The first album of the Stone Roses inspired me a lot and also Carlos Dengler, the original bass player from Interpol, did PB: How about song writing? Do you write lyrics or music first? What is the more difficult part? JW: We don’t really sit down and write songs. They come up as we practice. JR: We practice a lot, so tunes come out of this. Gavan can come up with little bit of guitar, and then we work around this and polish it until it’s done. We don’t put any effort into the lyrics. We just jam them up as we go. PB: Thank you. The photographs that accompnay this article were taken by Marie Hazelwood.